OT: "Best" places to retire (assuming you can)

[Tidepool]

Per Bankrate.com...

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/best-places-retire-how-state-ranks.aspx

For some reason, they don't take into account the quality of the states's WCBB teams.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Interesting. But few places among the best that I would want to live. Or the worst for that matter.

Somewhat surpised how low AZ is, although I noticed the crime rate was high and the medical not as much as one would think. I do wonder how the geographic distribution of population affects stats like those.

 

[FairView]

I plan on retiring the day after my wake, so I'm pretty much open to any state.

 

[Icebear]

I plan on retiring the day after my wake, so I'm pretty much open to any state.

Including a different state of being.

 

[FairView]

Including a different state of being.

Imagine that: a state where the absence of death and taxes are certainties.

 

[Adesmar123]

Wow..Connecticut did well...41 out of 50!!! Only 9 better!! Or 19 if you are a presidential candidate. It must have been our handling of the current budget crisis and lack of borrowing to meet our needs.

 

[Harry Mangurian]

Including a different state of being.

How about "lay in state?"

 

[Harry Mangurian]

Looking forward to the Research Triangle in NC.
Ranking states is far too broad.
Been there lots and there is almost too much to do.
All the techies and colleges (with top rate hospitals) make it great.

I hope the UCONN women keep winning the ACC.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Yep, two of the places I'm dreaming of for my last years is some nice hurricane-bait bungalow on the Louisiana coast or a cozy cabin on the South Dakota plains to rock away the winter. Cheap living cost, here I come.

 

[FairView]

How about enrolling in UConn after retirement and becoming a team manager for women's basketball?

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

CT=High taxes, high prices for homes, high cost of overall living...the trifecta for an expensive retirement.

 

[msf22b]

Just shows how you can arrange criteria to prove anything.
Tennessee, South Dakota, Louisiana better not be counting on a windfall of new retirees.

 

[ocoandasoc]

Tennessee is actually booming as a retirement destination. Great healthcare, no income tax, lowest cost of living in the US (except for Oklahoma), super low utility rates, nice yet inexpensive housing options, plenty of cultural and educational opportunities if you settle near a city like Nashville, etc. I've been visiting my son there for years and I'm sold. Retiring later this year and moving South! My SS and 401K checks will go a lot further down there, plus my new house in Nashville (now one of the world's top tourist destinations) will let me trade out homes for travel all over the world. Throw in the facts that I'm a country music and barbecue fan, and that my alma mater (Missouri) now plays in the SEC so I'll be able to see some games without fling half way across the country, and you've got a done deal! (And BTW, friends have already booked my guest bedroom and living room couch for next year's Final Four!)

 

[Bestiarius]

Just shows how you can arrange criteria to prove anything.
Tennessee, South Dakota, Louisiana better not be counting on a windfall of new retirees.

Lots of hospital beds per capita and lots of doctors. People must get sick a lot in these states.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Tennessee is actually booming as a retirement destination. Great healthcare, no income tax, lowest cost of living in the US (except for Oklahoma), super low utility rates, nice yet inexpensive housing options, plenty of cultural and educational opportunities if you settle near a city like Nashville, etc. I've been visiting my son there for years and I'm sold. Retiring later this year and moving South! My SS and 401K checks will go a lot further down there, plus my new house in Nashville (now one of the world's top tourist destinations) will let me trade out homes for travel all over the world. Throw in the facts that I'm a country music and barbecue fan, and that my alma mater (Missouri) now plays in the SEC so I'll be able to see some games without fling half way across the country, and you've got a done deal! (And BTW, friends have already booked my guest bedroom and living room couch for next year's Final Four!)

Nashville? Vandy culture and a little bit of music entertainment? You got it made guy. But again, if you ever decide to trade up to that cabin in the pristine plains of South Dakota, let me know and maybe we can work out a time-share arrangement.

 

[RoyDodger]

I retired at the end of last November and started planning a move to be near my family in New Mexico. We finally arrived, after months of stress in arranging everything, a few days ago. It is absolutely gorgeous but too early to comment overall. Our household goods don't even arrive until Monday. Meanwhile, my brother says I should start rooting for the UNM Lobos (no relation to Rebecca, of course). I laughed and told him that no person or place is going to change my devotion to the UConn Huskies.

As I mentioned in one post earlier, I chose DirecTv because it has SNY and thus our beloved National Champs.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I retired at the end of last November and started planning a move to be near my family in New Mexico. We finally arrived, after months of stress in arranging everything, a few days ago. It is absolutely gorgeous but too early to comment overall. Our household goods don't even arrive until Monday. Meanwhile, my brother says I should start rooting for the UNM Lobos (no relation to Rebecca, of course). I laughed and told him that no person or place is going to change my devotion to the UConn Huskies.

As I mentioned in one post earlier, I chose DirecTv because it has SNY and thus our beloved National Champs.

I know this may be too hard for a Husky Fan to deal with, but you "can" root for more than 1 team.

While I remain a fan of RU WBB in particular, Rutgers in general, and continue to donate, I now consider myself a fan just as much of Arizona, to whom I donate as well. If RU was playing Arizona, I would not be conflicted with WBB at all, go RU. Football, perhaps based on which team would benefit the most from the win. Other sports we follow - Softball and WVB - Rutgers does not currently play at Arizona's level, so I wouldn't have angst, just hope they played well.

And when we go to the Women's College Softball World Series (which we have started a tradition of) I can find teams I like to root for and teams I don't like that I root for their opponent. The "anybody but" theory, with UCLA one of the group's members.

 

[DaddyChoc]

20 more yrs for me UNLESS I hit the Powerball saturday night

 

[pinotbear]

Southern states are ranked fairly highly in this format, and that is largely based on their perceived better climate, and lower tax burden. Climate is a matter of personal preference.: having spent 15 years in KY and VA, I have no desire to live in a place warmer and muggier than that. So, whereas the list values Louisianna's climate highly, I would hate it. More objectively, the relatively lower tax burden of the southern states has an undisclosed cost. Southern states have a lower tax burden largely because they spend less - a lot less - on education. (They also give large tax-breaks to auto companies to lure them out of the "rust belt", taking jobs from Michigan, Ohio, etc.). When you look at mortality rates, obesity rates, smoking, etc., southern states are also unhealthier than the rest of the country. So, cheaper than the rest of the country - but also not as educated, and unhealthier.

 

[UcMiami]

I retired last year and have to say none of the factors in this list weighed on my decisions. Most of this list is so localized as to be meaningless on a statewide basis including taxes and COL. And the distance between 'home' and all those hospital beds and doctors is pretty important, and the quality of the doctors and hospitals too.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Southern states are ranked fairly highly in this format, and that is largely based on their perceived better climate, and lower tax burden. Climate is a matter of personal preference.: having spent 15 years in KY and VA, I have no desire to live in a place warmer and muggier than that. So, whereas the list values Louisianna's climate highly, I would hate it. More objectively, the relatively lower tax burden of the southern states has an undisclosed cost. Southern states have a lower tax burden largely because they spend less - a lot less - on education. (They also give large tax-breaks to auto companies to lure them out of the "rust belt", taking jobs from Michigan, Ohio, etc.). When you look at mortality rates, obesity rates, smoking, etc., southern states are also unhealthier than the rest of the country. So, cheaper than the rest of the country - but also not as educated, and unhealthier.

Look, if you have the money, CT is a fine place. I do, however, have many friends who just can't afford the cost of living here, so they go elswhere. You have to run the numbers.

Just the way it is.

 

[meyers7]

20 more yrs for me UNLESS I hit the Powerball saturday night

Sounds a little like my "diverse" retirement plan. Powerball, Megamillions and scatch tickets.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Look, if you have the money, CT is a fine place. I do, however, have many friends who just can't afford the cost of living here, so they go elswhere. You have to run the numbers.

Just the way it is.

Numbers running? Well, that may be another way to fund those retirement years.

 

[Adesmar123]

When you look at mortality rates, obesity rates, smoking, etc., southern states are also unhealthier than the rest of the country. So, cheaper than the rest of the country - but also not as educated, and unhealthier.[/quote]

When you retire to a Southern State, is it a requirement that you have to start smoking and eating beignets and bacon wrapped meatloaf ? Also, I don't think less expensive equates to uneducated no more than expensive equals educated.

 

[Bestiarius]

20 more yrs for me UNLESS I hit the Powerball saturday night

I'll be keeping my eyes on the ground until Saturday night because I intend to find a winning ticket. I figure the odds of that are not much worse than buying a ticket, so why waste the money.